WISCONSIN PUPPY MILL PROJECT

An Interview with a WI "Puppy
Farmer"

(Click on photo for a
larger view)

15
May 2014 UPDATE: In 2011, Pretty Penny Kennels applied for and was
granted a "temporary license" under WI Act 90. However, Mr. Schulz
declined to upgrade his facilities to comply with the new regulations, so was
denied a permanent license.

Under the law, Mr. Schulz
may still sell fewer than 25 dogs a year, from three litters. If you have
reason to suspect that he is selling more dogs, or are concerned about the
conditions in which his remaining dogs are being kept, please see our
Filing a Complaint page for details on how to
contact DATCP with your concerns!

The following article was transcribed from a
news broadcast titled, "Inside a Puppy Farm," on WTMJ - Channel 4 in
Milwaukee, Wisconsin on November 23, 1999. The report was given by Mike Jacobs.
If you have the Windows Media Player installed on your computer, you can also
click here to see the actual broadcast
of this interview, used with permission from WTMJ news.

PLYMOUTH, WI
Nov. 23, 1999 - There's nothing cuter than a puppy. And as the holidays
approach, puppies are big business. But the business side of puppies is rarely
as pretty as the puppies themselves.

Case in
point: Gerald Schulz's kennels, near Plymouth in Sheboygan County. He¹s
got numerous dogs in dozens of outdoor cages. Schulz advertises in the paper,
selling 25 different breeds in all. Today's TMJ4 has received complaints about
Schulz's operation, so we checked things out.

We found cage
after cage of puppies outdoors, with four to six dogs in each pen. Two cages
caught fire last Sunday while Schulz was at church. Twenty-one puppies died in
that fire.

But it wasn't
Schulz's first fire. A fire that damaged his barn 11 months ago killed several
dogs. And while we were there last week, another puppy pen caught fire. Schulz
put it out with a garden hose. Apparently a heating pad in the pen shorted out,
just like the fire last Sunday.

Schulz runs
extension cords to heating pads in all of his outdoor pens. In the most recent
fire, the puppies weren't hurt. But Schulz didn't seem too concerned that he
could have lost several dogs in the fire, "I could lose 'em all tomorrow
from a disease or something too. It's a rough business trying to keep 'em all
alive," he explained.

Animal lovers
have filed several complaints against Schulz with the Sheboygan County
Sheriff's Department, alleging "animal neglect", saying conditions
were "disgusting" and made them "sick to our stomachs."

Deputies
investigated and found the animals "in good health". In every case,
"there were no arrests made", or even any violations found. That's
because Gerald Schulz seems to be perfectly legal. The sight of dozens of
puppies in cages, outdoors, may upset some people. But it's not against
the law.

Schulz has
been raising dogs for 30 years, and he's got an answer for every complaint
raised by the puppy people:

He says there are not "too
many dogs" in each pen: "They're much better dogs if you get 'em with
more dogs. If you've just got one dog to a pen or even if you've only got two,
then one's dominant and when you get 'em home, he's always fighting you for
who's the boss. When you've got more in a pen like I do and they're mixed
up once in a while, they're more submissive, easier to train."

Schulz says they don't need to be let out for exercise:
"Then they'd be unhappy, they'd want to get out again. This way they
don't know no better. They're happy where they are."

He says dogs don't need to be indoors during the winter,
"There's no need for it. They were outside for a million years. It's
only the last 200 that people have been putting 'em in the house."

The Sheboygan
County Humane Society doesn't like Schulz's operation, but it's powerless to
act. Schulz doesn't think much of them, either. "The Humane Society people
don't know nothing. Most of 'em are girls from town. They love animals - that's
great, but they don't have no common sense. They think they should be on the
davenport. The house is the worst place there is to keep a dog."

Puppies are
just the final product of Schulz's business. The actual breeding goes on in a
barn. For each breed Schulz sells, he's got one male and four or five females
per pen. They make puppies, which makes money for Schulz.

You want
labs? He's got em. How 'bout a cocker spaniel? He's got lots of them, with more
arriving. Prices range from $200 to $400 each. The dogs we saw all looked
healthy. There were no signs of cruelty or neglect. According to Schulz,
"Anybody who raises something for money is interested in taking care of
'em, cause if you don't, you don't make any money."

Besides,
under Wisconsin Statutes, Chapter 951, crimes against animals, keeping unhealthy dogs or
treating them cruelly can get you arrested. Though some people say those laws
are 'vague' or even 'weak.'

One thing is
clear; Schulz doesn't want any animal activists snooping around his property,
trying to shut him down. "Besides that, I'd kill 'em if they came.
(I've) been arrested twice for misuse of firearms. Next time I can't leave no
witnesses."

Schulz may be
joking, but the look on his face was serious  dead serious. When asked if
he was joking, he said, "A guy's gotta protect his place. Home is his
castle. They leave me alone, I'll leave them alone."

We have had
calls from people who are happy with the puppies they purchased from Schulz.
We've also heard from people who weren't so happy. But the main complaints
aren't about the dogs themselves, rather about the conditions in which they're
being raised.

If you have men who will
exclude any of God's creatures
from the shelter of compassion and pity,
you will have men who will deal likewise with their fellow men.
Saint Francis of Assisi